Aksaray University

A synthesis of existing Industry 4.0 literature depicts that knowledge management and decision making strategies are crucial factors for organizations. This article highlights the need and develops a framework for knowledge management and decision-making style by reviewing existing management literature. This research proposes a framework that supports the relationship between knowledge management enabling factors (i.e., organizational member's collaboration, T-shaped skills, learning and IT-support) and organizational performance, and the mediating effect of knowledge creation process. The article also propose that decision-making style (i.e., intuitive and/or rational) will moderate the relationship between knowledge creation process and organizational performance. A set of propositions that represent an empirically-driven research agenda, and also describe the relationships between the focal variables are presented to enhance audience's understanding within a business context.

Mapping land use/land cover (LULC) changes at regional scales is essential for a wide range of applications, including landslide, erosion, land planning, global warming etc. LULC alterations (based especially on human activities), negatively effect the patterns of climate, the patterns of natural hazard and socio-economic dynamics in global and local scale. In this study, LULC changes are investigated by using of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Rize, North-East Turkey. For this purpose, firstly supervised classification technique is applied to Landsat images acquired in 1976 and 2000. Image Classification of six reflective bands of two Landsat images is carried out by using maximum likelihood method with the aid of ground truth data obtained from aerial images dated 1973 and 2002. The second part focused on land use land cover changes by using change detection comparison (pixel by pixel). In third part of the study, the land cover changes are analyzed according to the topographic structure (slope and altitude) by using GIS functions. The results indicate that severe land cover changes have occurred in agricultural (36.2%) (especially in tea gardens), urban (117%), pasture (-72.8%) and forestry (-12.8%) areas has been experienced in the region between 1976 and 2000. It was seen that the LULC changes were mostly occurred in coastal areas and in areas having low slope values.

Idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a common cause of chronic gastrointestinal (GI) disease in dogs. The combination of an underlying host genetic susceptibility, an intestinal dysbiosis, and dietary/environmental factors are suspected as main contributing factors in the pathogenesis of canine IBD. However, actual mechanisms of the host-microbe interactions remain elusive. The aim of this study was to compare the fecal microbiota and serum metabolite profiles between healthy dogs (n = 10) and dogs with IBD before and after 3 weeks of medical therapy (n = 12). Fecal microbiota and metabolite profiles were characterized by 454-pyrosequencing of 16 S rRNA genes and by an untargeted metabolomics approach, respectively. Significantly lower bacterial diversity and distinct microbial communities were observed in dogs with IBD compared to the healthy control dogs. While Gammaproteobacteria were overrepresented, Erysipelotrichia, Clostridia, and Bacteroidia were underrepresented in dogs with IBD. The functional gene content was predicted from the 16 S rRNA gene data using PICRUSt, and revealed overrepresented bacterial secretion system and transcription factors, and underrepresented amino acid metabolism in dogs with IBD. The serum metabolites 3-hydroxybutyrate, hexuronic acid, ribose, and gluconic acid lactone were significantly more abundant in dogs with IBD. Although a clinical improvement was observed after medical therapy in all dogs with IBD, this was not accompanied by significant changes in the fecal microbiota or in serum metabolite profiles. These results suggest the presence of oxidative stress and a functional alteration of the GI microbiota in dogs with IBD, which persisted even in the face of a clinical response to medical therapy.

Chitosan films blended with stem, leaf and seed extracts of <italic>Pistacia terebinthus</italic> for active food packaging.

Cyanidin and its glycosides are naturally dietary pigments which have been indicated as promising candidates to have potential benefits to humans, especially in the prevention and treatment of diabetes mellitus. We investigated the structure activity relationships of cyanidin and its glycosides to inhibit intestinal α-glucosidases and pancreatic α-amylase in vitro. The results found that cyanidin and its glycosides are more specific inhibitors of intestinal sucrase than intestinal maltase. Cyanidin-3-galactoside and cyanidin-3-glucoside were the most potent inhibitors against intestinal sucrase and pancreatic α-amylase with IC(50) values of 0.50 ± 0.05 and 0.30 ± 0.01 mM, respectively. Our findings indicate that the structural difference between glucose and galactose at the 3-O-position of cyanidin was an important factor for modulating the inhibition of intestinal sucrase and pancreatic α-amylase. The combination of cyandin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3- galactoside or cyanidin-3,5-diglucosides with a low concentration of acarbose showed synergistic inhibition on intestinal maltase and sucrase. The synergistic inhibition was also found for a combination of cyanidin or cyanidin-3-glucoside with a low concentration of acarbose. The findings could provide a new insight into a use for the naturally occurring intestinal α-glucosidase and pancreatic α-amylase inhibitors for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications.

Recently, the search for low-cost eco-friendly adsorbents has become one of the main objectives of researchers. The aim of this study was to test the removal of four heavy metals, namely lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni) and cadmium (Cd), from a simulated watery solution using brewed tea waste as a potentially suitable adsorbent. The effects of pH levels (2.0-6.0), adsorbent amount (0.1-5.0 g), contact times (1-150 min.) were examined throughout the adsorption process. The results of the experiments showed that the heavy metals elimination yields had an inverse relationship with pH and a linear relationship between the other parameters. The optimum pH for the removal of the heavy metals was between 4.0 and 5.0 in the case of the brewed tea waste. Equilibrium times of 2, 10, 30 and 5 min were required for the adsorption of Pb, Zn, Ni, Cd onto Camellia sinensis, respectively. Based on the results of this study it can be said that brewed tea waste has a high potential to remove heavy metals from aqueous solutions. The maximum adsorption capacities were calculated as 1.197, 1.457, 1.163 and 2.468 mg/g, for Pb, Zn, Ni and Cd, respectively, by fitting the equilibrium data to the Langmuir isotherm model.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using metacognitive strategy training onmathematical problem solving achievement. The study took place over a nine-week period with 47 fifthgrade students. The experimental group (n=24) instructed to improve their metacognitive skills. At thesame time the students in the control group (n=23) received no additional activities and continued theirnormal lessons. Students were pre- and post-tested with the Mathematical Problem Solving AchievementTest and Turkish version of Metacognitive Skills and Knowledge Assessment (MSA-TR). The resultsindicated that students in the metacognitive treatment group significantly improved in both mathematicalproblem solving achievement and metacognitive skills.

This study aims to identify the risk factors affecting deaths related to cardiovascular diseases. The research population comprised of 194 World Health Organization (WHO) member countries, but the data analysis was conducted with the data from 152 countries as 42 of them do not have any data on study variables. Multivariable regression analysis was utilised for this study to analyse the effect of factors regarding metabolism, lifestyle, economic, socio-demographic and health system on the cardiovascular diseases related to deaths. As a result of regression analysis, the number of deaths related to cardiovascular diseases increases with the increase in blood pressure (p < .001), blood glucose (p = .032), obesity rate (p < .001), salt consumption (p < .001), GINI index (p = .002) and dependent age ratio (p < .001); the frequency of cardiovascular disease-related deaths is higher in the countries within low (p < .001) and high (p < .001) middle-income levels; yet, the number of deaths based on cardiovascular diseases diminishes with the increase in the number of doctors (p = .005) and health expenditures per capita (p = .044). The research findings are considered to guide the countries in the determination of their steps towards the prevention of deaths related to cardiovascular diseases.

The growing interest in substituting synthetic products coming from non-renewable sources with products from biomass has focused attention on the lignin biopolymer. Its high availability, low price and properties make the development of new and valuable uses for lignin interesting, thus improving the economic and environmental aspects of the biomass conversion. To achieve this objective, the potential use of industrial kraft and organosolv lignins as antioxidants, antimicrobials and sunscreen products has been evaluated. The results of a detailed antibacterial and antifungal study demonstrated the high potential of kraft lignins against a variety of foodborne and human pathogenic microorganisms. Moreover, both organosolv and kraft lignins presented an effective protection factor (SPF values from 10-20), demonstrating their effectiveness as natural additives for the sun lotion market. In addition, lignin samples presented high antioxidant capacity compared to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), one common commercial antioxidant industrially used. Therefore, the development of innovative applications of lignins as a commodity for the chemical, pharmaceutical or cosmetic industries could expand their possible uses in the market giving new added values to lignin.

Virtual community membership has a strong influence on a tourist’s behaviours and the way information is transmitted. Drawing on trust transfer theory as a theoretical framework, this study tests an empirical model that investigates the influence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on destination trust and travel intention. The study also diagnoses gender differences in the proposed model. Data were obtained from a sample of 216 tourists in Cyprus. The findings from regression analyses suggest that eWOM is positively related to travel intention; eWOM is positively related to destination trust; and destination trust is positively related to travel intention. Additionally, the impact of eWOM on destination trust was significant for both genders but stronger for men, while the impact of destination trust on travel intention was stronger for women. The paper extends the existing literature regarding new response variables associated with eWOM.

The full potential of e-learning, a trend that is of growing importance lately, will not be reaped unless the users fully utilize the system, triggering extensive research to be conducted in order to provide valuable insight on a myriad of variables influencing user acceptance in e-learning systems. The main purpose of the study is to determine the factors that affect the intention of users to use e-learning and to get results which can guide system developers and researchers. In accordance with this purpose, 203 studies investigating the e-learning acceptance of the users through the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) were found in the literature. In those studies, variables which are suggested to determine Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) and results of related hypotheses are analyzed. Finally, a model is proposed. In this model, the most widely accepted hypotheses, affecting PU and PEOU according to the literature are included in the original TAM. As a result; it determines Self Efficacy-PEOU, Subjective Norm-PU, Self Efficacy-PU, Interaction-PU, Enjoyment-PEOU, Anxiety-PEOU, Enjoyment-PU, Compatibility-PU, Subjective Norm-PEOU and Interaction-PEOU as variables that have statistical significance in users' PU and PEOU, respectively. Moreover, the study examines the relationship between the User Satisfaction and original TAM variables, and proposes the Acceptance and Satisfaction Model for E-Learning (ASME) as a model to best explain the dependent variables described above.

In this study, we used Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), elemental analysis (EA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) to investigate chitin structure isolated from both sexes of four grasshopper species. FT-IR, EA, XRD, and TGA showed that the chitin was in the alpha form. With respect to gender, two main differences were observed. First, we observed that the quantity of chitin was greater in males than in females and the dry weight of chitin between species ranged from 4.71% to 11.84%. Second, using SEM, we observed that the male chitin surface structure contained 25-90 nm wide nanofibers and 90-250 nm nanopores, while no pores or nanofibers were observed in the chitin surface structure of the majority of females (nanofibers were observed only in M. desertus females). In contrast, the elemental analysis, thermal properties, and crystalline index values for chitin were similar in males and females. Also, we carried out enzymatic digestion of the isolated chitins using commercial chitinase from Streptomyces griseus. We observed that there were no big differences in digestion rate of the chitins from both sexes and commercial chitin. The digestion rates were for grasshoppers' chitins; 88.45-95.48% and for commercial chitin; 94.95%.

The main purpose of this paper is to investigate multitemporal land surface temperature (LST) changes by using satellite remote sensing data. The study included a real-time field work performed during the overpass of Landsat-5 satellite on 21/08/2011 over Salt Lake, Turkey. Normalized vegetation index (NDVI), vegetation condition index (VCI), and temperature vegetation index (TVX) were used for evaluating drought impact over the region between 1984 and 2011. In the image processing step, geometric and radiometric correction procedures were conducted to make satellite remote sensing data comparable with in situ measurements carried out using thermal infrared thermometer supported by hand-held GPS. The results showed that real-time ground and satellite remote sensing data were in good agreement with correlation coefficient (R2) values of 0.90. The remotely sensed and treated satellite images and resulting thematic indices maps showed that dramatic land surface temperature changes occurred (about 2°C) in the Salt Lake Basin area during the 28-year period (1984-2011). Analysis of air temperature data also showed increases at a rate of 1.5-2°C during the same period. Intensification of irrigated agriculture particularly in the southern basin was also detected. The use of water supplies, especially groundwater, should be controlled considering particularly summer drought impacts on the basin.

Abstract This study presents a more efficient and innovative prototype of a hydrogen generation system using proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. The aim of this study is to generate hydrogen gas energy that conducts the chemical reaction by electrolytic movements as well as to design a system that generates energy with H 2 through new technology. The Cr‐C coated SS304 bipolar plates were used in the electrolysis cells and the septic mixture (urea, ammonia, methyl alcohol) was used in the electrolyzer as a chemical solution to make the hydrogen production more efficient and cost effective. The super strong magnets were also mounted on the outer surface of the electrolysis cells to improve the performance and efficiency. The performance of the electrolyzer was determined by operating the current and voltage parameters. The results were collected through experiments and the optimization of the different parameters. In this prototype study, the production of hydrogen gas in the system (1 MW) through the presented system was found to be as 6 m 3 h −1 and the simple payback period (SPP) was calculated as 2.32 y. These results indicate that this system can produce hydrogen more efficiently and economically.

Abstract This study examined the development of students’ language skills in a flipped English foreign language course designed with self-regulated learning strategies. The study was conducted with a quasi-experimental design. While the experimental group received the course through flipped classroom model designed with self-regulated learning strategies, control group did not use self-regulated learning strategies in the flipped classroom model. The results indicated that self-regulated learning strategies positively affected the development of foreign language skills in the flipped classroom model. A significant difference in favor of the group working with the platform including self-regulated learning strategies outperformed in speaking, reading, writing, and grammar test scores. However, no significant difference in the listening test results was found.

Bu çalışmanın amacı, Çin’in Vuhan şehrinde ortaya çıkan ve ‘yeni koronavirüs (COVID-19)’ olarak teşhis edilen (T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı Covid-19 Rehberi, 2020: 5; WHO, Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Outbrake, 2020) salgının turizm faaliyetleri üzerindeki güncel ve gelecek dönemlerdeki muhtemel etkilerinin tespit edilmesidir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda; etkileri itibariyle uluslararası halk sağlığı açısından ciddi bir tehdit arz eden salgınla ilgili olarak Dünya Sağlık Örgütü’ne (WHO) ait resmî web sitesinde sürekli güncellenen ve anlık olarak paylaşılan veriler ve talimatlar doküman analizi yöntemi ile incelenmiştir. 31 Aralık 2019 ile 10 Mart 2020 tarihleri arasında hükümetlerin tedbir niteliğinde uyguladıkları ülkelere giriş çıkış yasakları, salgının tespit edildiği bölgelerde uygulanan karantinalar, iptali söz konusu olan uluslararası çapta spor ve sanat etkinlikleri, kongreler ve seyahat kısıtlamaları gibi turizm sektörünü doğrudan etkileyen özel önlemler ile ilgili veriler çalışma kapsamında değerlendirilmiştir. Ayrıca çalışmada Dünya Turizm Örgütü’nün (WTO) konuya ilişkin rapor ve uyarılarına da yer verilmiştir. Çalışma bulguları sonucunda elde edilen izlenimler yeni koronavirüsün ülke ekonomilerinde etkileri uzun süre hissedilebilecek türden zararlar oluşturacağı ve turizm sektörünün de bu zararlardan doğrudan olumsuz bir şekilde etkileneceği yönündedir.

A series of nanoporous sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (NaCMC) hydrogel beads were prepared using FeCl 3 ionic crosslinker by changing polymer and crosslinker percentages (%). Characteristics of the hydrogels were investigated by gel content, swelling test, degradation test, Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscope/Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (SEM/EDX), and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Swelling experiments were studied by changing time, temperature, and pH. The swelling percentage (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mrow><mml:mi>S</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:math>%) regularly decreased with increasing the amounts of polymer and crosslinker, in contrast with gel content results. NaCMC hydrogels were found to be sensitive to pH variations. The degradation test showed that hydrogels had good stability and their degradation period varied from 30 to 36 days. According to SEM analysis, NaCMC hydrogels had mostly nanoporous structure. The average granule and pore sizes of the least swollen NaCMC-12 hydrogel were found to be <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M2"><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">13.1</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">0.3</mml:mn></mml:math> nm and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M3"><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">82.1</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">3.2</mml:mn></mml:math> nm. The elemental compositions of hydrogels were determined with EDX. The minimum average surface roughness (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M4"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>R</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">a</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>) and root mean square roughness (<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M5"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>R</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">m</mml:mi><mml:mi mathvariant="normal">s</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>) parameters were found to be <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M6"><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">15.7</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">1.9</mml:mn></mml:math> nm and <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M7"><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">20.3</mml:mn><mml:mo>±</mml:mo><mml:mn fontstyle="italic">2.2</mml:mn></mml:math> nm for NaCMC-12 hydrogels by AFM. Due to their good morphologies, stabilities, and swelling behaviors, NaCMC hydrogels can be suitable for biomaterial applications.

This study includes the investigation of chemical properties such as nitrosomyoglobin content, lycopene content, and the oxidation level, and the sensorial properties of frankfurters which have been produced by both reducing the nitrite level and adding tomato powder. All samples have been vacuum packed and stored at +4 °C for 60 days. The pH of the frankfurters produced with tomato powder was reduced, when compared to the samples which did not contain tomato powder. This effect was due to the acidic characteristics of tomato. As the level of nitrite was reduced, the oxidation level of the frankfurters was increased significantly. Addition of 2 g/100 g of tomato powder decreased the level of oxidation; however, 4 g/100 g of tomato powder caused a slight increase when compared to the samples which did not contain tomato powder. According to this result it can be stated that tomato powder retards the oxidation reaction. According to sensorial evaluations, tomato powder improved the consumer acceptability as well. Addition of tomato powder increased the internal and external colour scores, and frankfurters were found to be more acceptable by the panellists. Nitrosomyoglobin (NOMb) content of the samples was decreased along with the decreased level of nitrite, and this, in turn, contributed to the decreased level of redness (a*).

This study examined the differences in the level of 7th-grade Turkish students' cognitive and metacognitive strategy use (rehearsal, elaboration, organization, critical thinking, and metacognitive self-regulation) in science and investigated the contribution of cognitive and metacognitive strategy use to students' science achievement. The present study also explored the relationships between students' background characteristics (gender, prior knowledge, socioeconomic status) and their cognitive and metacognitive strategy use and science achievement. The statistical analyses revealed significant differences in the level of students' cognitive and metacognitive strategy use scores. Besides, elaboration, organization, and metacognitive self-regulation strategy use were found to make a significant contribution to students' science achievement. Moreover, prior knowledge, parents' educational level, number of reading materials at home, frequency of buying a daily newspaper, presence of a separate study room, and presence of a computer with internet connection at home were significantly associated with cognitive and metacognitive strategy use and science achievement.

The purpose of this study was, conducted with experimental design, to investigate the effect of reminiscence therapy on cognition, depression, activities of daily living of institutionalized mild and moderate Alzheimer patients. The study was conducted with a total of 62 patients (31 intervention group and 31 control group) in four home care in Ankara, Turkey. Study was done between the July 1, 2013 and December 20, 2014. Reminiscence therapy sessions were held with groups consists of 4-5 patients, once a week with 30-35 minute duration for 12 weeks. Standardized Mini Mental Test was used in sample selection. Patients were listed through their mini mental test scores, and randomized as odd numbers to control group and even numbers to intervention group. Data were collected with forms developed by researcher 'Data Sheet' and 'Activities of Daily Living Follow-up Form' as well as scales 'Standardized Mini Mental Test' and 'Geriatric Depression Scale'. Chi-square, Mann Whitney-U test, variance analyses in repeated measures and Bonferroni tests were used for analysis. The increase in mean Standardized Mini Mental Test score and the decrease in mean Geriatric Depression Scale score of the individuals in the intervention group compared to the control group at the end of the reminiscence therapy was statistically significant (P < 0.05). At the end of reminiscence therapy sessions, increase in cognition and decrease in depression were found statistically significant in intervention group.